Review of Hospital Health IT Finds Security Lapses

Federal audits of electronic health information security practices at seven hospitals discovered 151 system and control vulnerabilities—security lapses that could permit an unauthorized person to access or tamper with digital patient data. A total of 82% of the vulnerabilities carried a high risk of data breaches, loss of data, or result in harm to patients. Hospitals and other health care entities are required to report breaches of health information data affecting more than 500 individuals to the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights, which investigates the event and can impose fines. The 151 . . .